Content immobilizing devices are known which include handle or closure devices for coupling to an immobilizing medium, such as cotton, inside pill or tablet bottles to facilitate removal of the immobilizing medium. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,782,967 discloses a device for simultaneously removing the immobilizing medium and a tamper evident seal, such as a inner foil or paper seal, in one action. However, this device requires numerous manufacturing steps to implement. The pull cord typically must be preformed in a circle and partially attached to a bottom surface of the foil seal and also must be glued to the immobilizing medium. In addition, an end portion of the pull cord must be positioned to penetrate the tamper evident seal during assembly which frustrates the purpose of having a tamper evident foil seal since the device introduces a hole or aperture at the point where the pull cord penetrates the foil seal. A hole in the seal typically indicates evidence of tampering.
Other known content immobilizing devices require attachment of the immobilizing medium to the closure so that removal of the closure extracts the immobilizing medium from the bottle. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,857,068, 2,222,042, and 2,091,212 discloses various closures to which the immobilizing medium is affixed to the closure to facilitate removal of the immobilizing medium when the closure is removed. Such closures include metal straps, jaws, cork screws, slotted horizontal disks, and slotted plates or slots or apertures all penetrating into or through the surface of the closure. Such devices are typically not suitable for use with conventional closure systems using a thin tamper evident seal since each requires the seal to be penetrated.
Also these devices are not suited for conventional packaging processes in which the sealing process attaches the inner seal and cap simultaneously. In such processes, the seal is first secured to a bottom under surface of the cap by the cap supplier. The cap and inner seal are then simultaneously placed on the bottle. The inner seal is then secured to the rim of the bottle by some heating technique, glue, or pressure sensitive adhesive. Such devices would require the cap supplier to alter the cap and seal combination and may also adversely affect the sealing process.
Another problem with known content immobilizers concerns the relative inaccessibility of the handle or pull grip after removal of the closure. Arthritic patients or tablet users with larger diameter fingers have greater difficulty removing cotton from the inside of the bottles or gripping a handle which lies inside the neck of the bottle. Therefore, out-of-bottle access to the content immobilizer would be advantageous to overcome these types of problems. However, known devices which attempt to provide out-of-bottle access to the content immobilizer typically require the closure to be attached to the immobilizing medium. A problem arises since these devices are generally not compatible with conventional closure systems which use typical caps and bottles and require a tamper evident inner seal to cover the mouth of the bottle. Substantial redesign of packages and package manufacturing equipment would be required.
Other devices, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,091,212, rely on the amount of immobilizing medium inside the bottle to insure that the handle or grip device is proximate the opening of the bottle. However, such devices and attachment methods would not be effective where the immobilizing medium only extends as high as the shoulder of the bottle. Also, such a device generally has a flat grip surface and does not provide a readily grippable area for receiving a finger or other removal device.
Another content immobilizer disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,088,678 uses a metal wire bent in a loop at its intermediate portion to form a handle and having the remaining end portions bent to surround the immobilizing medium. The wire is secured to the immobilizing medium by twisting the distal ends of the wire together at the base of the immobilizing medium. When inserted into the bottle, the loop lies just below the cap.
Such a device is a rigid member generally incompatible with pill packages which include a tamper-evident seal since the loop is typically centered along the longitudinal center axis of the bottle. This location causes a patient to force the finger grip deeper into the bottle where a patient inserts a finger into the center of the bottle such as typically occurs when a patient or tablet user attempts to puncture the tamper evident inner seal with a finger or other object. In addition, such a device tends to be complex and costly to fabricate due to the twisting and bending required to form and secure the finger grip to the cotton. The fabrication of the device requires numerous complex steps such as cutting the length of the wire, forming the finger grip loop, inserting the immobilizing medium between the end portions, and twisting the distal ends to secure the device to the immobilizing medium. Furthermore, no portion of the device is accessible without the user inserting a finger or other grip into the neck of the device.
The above mentioned content immobilizers also tend to be incompatible with conventional immobilizing medium insertion machines, such as cotton insertion machines, and would typically require substantial changes to conventional pill packaging processes. Conventional automated cotton insertion machines such as a model COTTONER 71 manufactured by Lakso Packaging Company, a division of Package Machinery Company, Massachusetts, and a model KL-8-15 manufactured by Consolidated Manufacturing Company, a Figgie International Company New York, N.Y., typically use cylinders and corresponding plungers for forming and inserting inverted "U" pieces of immobilizing medium similar to machines described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,817,934 and 3,030,748 the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
A problem arises with known content immobilizers where the handle or closure for coupling to the cotton, can not be readily inserted into the cylinder with the immobilizing medium due to its size or nature of construction. For example, the content immobilizers which require that the handle or closure be coupled to the immobilizing medium at one of the ends of the immobilizing medium would are generally not compatible with the inverted "U" shape formed by conventional insertion machines. Other content immobilizers which require closures with extending structures for gripping the immobilizing medium have larger diameters than the inside diameter of the cylinders and would require redesign of the conventional bottle caps and/or corresponding inner seal.
Where the content immobilizer incorporates a handle or pull grip for coupling to the immobilizing medium instead of using the closure for coupling to the immobilizing medium, a problem arises where the handle is allowed to improperly move or slide with respect to the immobilizing medium. For example, where the handle is allowed to lean too far in a lateral or longitudinal direction with respect to the immobilizing medium, a peripheral edge of the cylinder may pinch the pull grip and cause insertion problems, or may insert the handle below the shoulder and beyond the reach of the patient. This makes it difficult for a patient to locate or access the pull grip.
Therefore, a need exists for a content immobilizer with a pull grip that is capable of being quickly and easily attached to the immobilizing medium and inserted into the bottle to form an easily removable content immobilizer. Furthermore, there exists a need for a content immobilizer which may be economically fabricated and inserted into bottles in a few simple steps. The content immobilizer should be generally compatible with conventional packaging processes and insertion processes. A need also exists for a readily removable content immobilizer having a finger grip that does not penetrate the tamper evident seal or otherwise breach the seal and thereby reduce the effectiveness of such a seal. In addition, a need exists for a content immobilizer which provides out-of-bottle access irrespective of the amount of immobilizing medium in the bottle. A need also exists for a finger pull grip which is not readily pushed into the bottle when the foil tamper-evident seal is punctured.